Spill The Bears
by drowninginlove
Summary: Kate tries to sneak up on Castle, but ends up getting a surprise herself. Leads to a story, a declaration, and some silly little fluff.


Spill the Bears

_Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Castle or any of it's characters. I hand that all over to Marlowe and Co._

_So basically, I haven't written a story in a really long time, but this morning I just got really inspired. I proceeded to start writing a fic, only for Rimah to give me a brilliant new idea and as a result, you get this story. I don't even know what to think of it, but enjoy haha.  
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___For Rimah, my somewhere between usually and often._

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Kate Beckett walked into the loft, dropping her bag just inside the threshold with a sigh. It had been a long grueling day, double homicide, no known suspects, and to top it all off, Castle had been at a meeting all day, figuring out whether or not his contract with Black Pawn would be renewed. It was 3 days short of their 6 month anniversary and she wanted nothing more than to spend an evening alone with him at his place to just escape from all the hectic nonsense the city of New York had chosen to throw at her today.

The loft was dark; the only light in the whole place was through the library walls in Castle's study. Deciding not to turn the lights on and give away her position, Kate silently walked through the dark room, carefully avoiding the usual blockades: coffee tables, rugs, chairs.

As she neared his office, she saw his silhouette, illuminated by the pale yellow emanating from the desk lamp beside him. The silence, with the exception of the rapid typing of his hands flying across the keyboard, caused Kate to stop in her tracks. Staring at the man she loved – yes, she could admit to loving him, at least in her head – she was struck by how in his element he seemed. She thought back to when she first sat down, 19 years old and spiraling out of control, only to find comfort and solace in the words in the pages of his novels. If only 19 year Kate Beckett could see me now, she mused to herself. She never imagined in a million years that she would end up here, dating Richard Castle, watching him in silence as he wrote down their love story. No matter how good the murder mysteries were, she and Castle both knew that the Nikki Heat series were not much more than a declaration of love, hiding behind the façade of crime and passion. Kate was awestruck as she watched her favourite author in his element, writing away without a care in the world. She opened her mouth, took a breath, and began to take a step forward, preparing herself to say the 3 little words she had been longing to say since she showed up on his doorstep nearly 6 months ago.

"Castle, I-." She began, but made it no further. Upon her next step, she found herself tumbling forward onto the ground.

"Kate look out!" Castle called out, but his attempts to stop her were useless.

Lying spread eagle out on the floor, with a sharp pain in her ankle, and her back, and her arms, and seemingly everywhere on her body. Jeez, what had she tripped over? "Rick, what the hell is all of this? Are you trying to injure your girlfriend?!"

"Um no, not exactly…?" Castle began, unsure of how to explain the current predicament he found himself and his girlfriend in.

Kate stared up at him from the ground, with a less than impressed look on her face. "Castle, is this a tub full of **bears?!**" He just stared, his mind racing a mile a minute, trying to find the right words. "Promise not to laugh, okay Kate?"

She simply sighed, beyond exasperated at this half man-half child that she currently called her boyfriend. "Kate, please?" Rick pleaded.

"Fine, I promise" she replied, just wanting to hear an explanation for the insanity.

Rick got up out of his chair, briefly stretched his limbs out, and carefully made his way over to his sprawled out girlfriend. He bent down slowly, and helped to pick her up, carrying her over to the nearest armchair and sitting down with her in his arms. Once they settled and got themselves more comfortable, Rick opened his mouth to explain.

"It might come as a secret to you, but I wasn't always the charming, charismatic man I am today." Kate scoffed at that, but Rick pressed on, eager to explain the story behind the incident that had just befallen his girlfriend. "When I was about 7, my mom took me to FAO Schwartz. Before then, I had heard the kids talk about the toy store at school, but I had never gotten to actually go and see it for myself. I made the mistake of telling my classmates that I had never been. Some of the boys cornered me at recess and teased me mercilessly, saying that my single mom didn't know how to raise a kid and that my dad had a good reason for leaving us. I came home from school that day, against my hardest will, crying. The next day, my mom took the day off from her rehearsal - she was in an off-Broadway production of The Sound of Music at the time - to take me to the toy store. I remember telling her that it was okay, that I didn't need to go. But she had that look of determination in her eyes and I knew that there was now nothing I could say to stop her from doing exactly what she planned to do. We walked up the steps, through the big glass doors, and I was absolutely gob smacked. I had no idea that a place like this had existed. I had read about fantastic places like this in books, but never in my life had I thought that a place like this could exist in the city I called my home. In retrospect, I think that this trip was the one that gave me such a love for adventure. I digress. Anyways, so we walked in, and my mother said I could pick out whatever I wanted, no matter how big or how small. My first instinct was to find the biggest, most expensive toy I could find. But then I stopped. My mom had taken time out of her presumably busy schedule, taking away money that she could have been making to keep us alive, to take me to a toy store just so the stupid kids at school would stop making fun of me. I sobered up really quickly, and I took her hand and led her over to the small, plastic toys. I asked her what her favourite animal was. She looked down at me, patted me on the head and said 'bears'. When I asked why, she replied with 'Because the mothers always stick with their young, even when the fathers leave'

"I realized then that the kids at school didn't matter. I had my mom, and she had me, and I knew that in the end, everything was going to work out. I picked up the small red bucket, the one you happened to trip over, and we walked through the store, picking out the small and various bear figurines that we saw. She paid for them, and once we got back to our apartment I set them up in front of my door to protect me from whatever bad would ever befall me. Whether it was mean kids at school, psychopaths, or bad reviews, I knew that the bears would be there to take care of me, just like my mother did that day. I set them up there every night until the day my mom sent me away to Edgewick Academy when I was 14. I got there, again, not having many friends, and the first chance I got to go home I did to grab 1 or 2 of my favourite bears, just so I knew I had them.

"Call it stupid, but sometimes when I'm having a bad day and I feel like the world is against me, I'll bring out the bears. I won't set them up like I did when I was a kid, but I'll keep the bucket by the door. Today my meeting with Black Pawn was brutal. They extended my contract, of course, but they started talking about cross-country tours and I didn't want to leave that long without you, which of course led to a fight between Gina and me, and then caused Paula to get involved, yelling at me because I haven't yet released a statement about the two of us. As soon I got out of there, I rushed in here to write, filled with anger and hurt and all the perfect emotions for a new chapter. But I was still scared, Kate. Scared of the future, and what it holds for us, and where this whole thing is headed. So I went into my closet, pulled out the bears, and put them in front of the door, for old times sake more than anything…" He trailed off, unsure of how to even continue his long tangent about his less than noble past.

Rick hung his head, clearly lost in his own memories. Kate sat there, filled to the brim with emotions and feelings and inexplicable emotions that could be identified as nothing other than love.

She brought her hand onto his cheek, feeling the brief stubble there, and pulled him out of his reverie to look into her eyes. She watched as his breath caught in his throat, as he most likely saw the love pouring freely out of her eyes.

"Rick, I love you." She said, speaking directly into his eyes, hoping that the stupid smile on her face and the tears in her eyes accurately conveyed how much his story meant to her.

Rick's face bloomed instantly from one of desolation to one of absolute, unbridled love. He reached his hands up, and grabbed her face and brought her in slowly for a kiss that was nothing short of Earth shattering. His lips brushed across hers once, twice, and a third time before he rested his forehead against hers, trying desperately to catch his breath. Pulling an inch away from her, he looked into her eyes, unable to control the smile that was straining his cheeks. "Really and truly?" he asked, hopeful, just like the 7 year old Ricky Rodgers in the toy store.

"Really and truly, Rick." Kate replied, unable to prevent herself from running her hands through his hair. "I'm sorry for spilling the bears. I was hoping to surprise you, but I guess the joke is on me." She smiled at him, and couldn't stop the laugh that erupted out of her from the dopey expression her boyfriend was currently sporting.

"Kate, I love you too, even though you just said 'spilling the bears' in a serious conversation mere moments after telling me that you loved me." They both laughed, before staring back at each other once again.

"Now then, I feel like a declaration such as this deserves a celebration, don't you Mister Castle?" Kate replied, as she slowly dragged her hands down his chest, tugging lightly at the black button down on her journey down. Rick growled, scooping her back up in his arms and carrying her to the bedroom. She giggled, giggled for crying out loud, as he placed her down on the middle of the giant bed, as he began his mission to show her exactly how much he loved her.

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_A/N: So there you have it! I had such a blast writing it, and I hope you guys enjoy it! Let me know what you thought! I'm hoping to publish my actual original story (Spill the Beans) sometime this week. Thanks so much for reading!_

_Geneva  
_


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